PSEi climbs to 2014 high ahead of Q3 GDP data

The local bourse closed Wednesday’s trade at its highest level for 2014 to date, driven by investor optimism for the Philippines’ third-quarter GDP results, due out today (Thursday), and wider bargain-hunting following previous declines.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index (PSEi) picked up 69.74 points or 0.96 percent to close at 7,356.59. The broader All Shares index advanced 33.05 points or 0.77 percent to end the session at 4,325.39.

The previous high for the year was hit on September 24, when the PSEi closed at 7,355.29.

“One factor is the optimism on higher GDP figures to be released tomorrow,” Juan Rafael Supangco, research head of Angping & Associates Securities Inc. said on Wednesday.

“Investors are probably anticipating higher growth than that of the first half,” he added.

He said the bellwether index is now trading toward the next 7,400-point resistance for the week, which could move higher if the third-quarter GDP results turn out to be favorable for the market.

The PSEi’s all-time high close of 7,392.20 was reached in May 2013.

All the sectoral indices were gainers on Wednesday: Financials were up 0.20 percent or 3.49 points at 1,728.92; industrials increased 0.64 percent or 76.03 points to 11,933.08; holding firms were ahead 1.30 percent or 82.13 points at 6,379.63; services rallied to add 0.66 percent or 14.34 points to 2,170.90; mining and oil closed 0.55 percent or 87.43 points higher at 15,986.50; and property added 0.40 percent or 11.74 points to close at 2,914.17.